#'u just dont write scientific explanations for stuff cause ur stupid'

[trickstarbrave]

im gonna actually write up a post bc i did rant abt it on twitter more than once. and this is ofc just my opinion but it bugs me so u have to hear it

stop trying to make fantasy stories scifi. 

this isnt a “dont blend genres bc i don’t like it” i genuinely mean it. if you wanna write scifi (science fiction, fiction grounded in scientific explanations) then write science fiction. if you do into the fantasy genre and start going “why are all of these magical creatures grounded in magic from time periods before science and medicine were not fully understood not following the laws of science” you’re not gonna have an easy time. 

like idk we’re gonna use mermaids and vampires bc i see a lot of those used in this way and i love to write them. they don’t follow the laws of biology. they flat out don’t. this isn’t a question or an invitation to debate it, they flat out don’t. there is a lot of their bodies, how the work, and just the core of what makes them vampires and mermaids that doesn’t really makes any biological sense. vampires need blood, and if you try to write some weird ‘how they transform and synthesize blood into their bodies and how this came about’ and end up giving us details about their fucking chromosomes like stephani meyer, it still doesn’t make sense. the only thing you’re doing is jumping half science facts on the reader, despite the fact none of that matters really for a fantasy story. 

mermaids again “why don’t they have n breasts, they aren’t streamlined, the hair gets in the way” if you wanna make a perfect vaguely humanoid water monster which can be cute or horrifying make that. do not try to use science to turn a mermaid into that good scifi water monster you wanna write. mermaids are more than likely humans involved with some kinda magic, because they still look like humans. there is no real way to have the concept of “part water creature like a fish and part human” and have it be explained by evolution because humans are not in any way evolved for water. point blank. a lot of ‘human’ traits would have never fucking survived.  

if you wanna blend fantasy and scifi, it will take a lot of work. blending genres can be extremely difficult, especially when you have two genres with entirely different standard rule guidelines they base their world building upon. but it can create very unique, memorable stories. 

if you love scifi: write scifi. if you love exploring scientific explanations and crafting creatures that follow science, thats fine! no one is saying you have to write a scifi story in space. write it in medieval europe, on a pirate ship, in a classic old school 1920′s horror setting. 

if you love fantasy: write fantasy. flesh out fully the rules of magic or how the world works. flesh out systems and societies. flesh out how your characters navigate it, and tell your story without feeling like you have to explain every part of it in a realistic way. its fantasy. so long as it is internally consistent, it doesn’t have to follow our rules. write about a buddy cop team investigating a dead mermaid family in the bay. write about a harpy who becomes a pilot so she can finally fly the way she always dreamed. write a fantasy story not in the typical middle earth-tolkien inspired fantasy setting. 

write the genre you want and if you want to blend genre’s, take the time to do it. don’t feel like you have to do things a certain way. and i mean if you wanna write scifi mermaids there is nothing i can do to stop you, if you wanna write scifi vampires i cant stop you either. but just really take time to examine what those scientific explanations do for your story